


Template Stacking

by WritingRobot



Series: Utgrid & Partinax [1]
Category: Fantasy Craft
Genre: /wst/ Original, Adventurers, Burgeoning Romance, F/M, Fools in Love, Gen, dialogue only
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:41:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22624204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingRobot/pseuds/WritingRobot
Summary: In which a bookish young dragon sees the world, a world weary giantess finds some relief from cynicism, and two companions find love.
Relationships: Fire Drake/Frost Giantess
Series: Utgrid & Partinax [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1627756





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote this series of dialogues for the Fantasy Craft discussion thread on /tg/ many years ago, when someone requested some drake/giantess romance. I've always been surprised by what it ballooned into, and for the tenderness I still feel for these two fools in love. I don't think this story could have taken shape in any other format than these dialogues; the elision of everything but these key moments is what makes Utgrid and Partinax work, and my description of the bulk of their lives would fail to live up to what they suggest merely by talking with one another.

"Th-this is my pool."

"What."

"This is my pool! Mine. There's a… a tax to use it."

"No there isn't."

"There is! You can't bathe in the pool if you don't pay."

"I just killed a dozen ogres and an ogre sorcerer. I'm covered in blood and sweat. I'm going in the hot spring and I'm not paying a copper piece."

"It'll be cold."

"What."

"It's only a hot spring because I heat it. With my breath. Ah... which is fire."

"You're kidding me."

"Never! And you won't find another pool big enough for a giant for leagues around."

 _A sigh._ "How much is your damned tax?"

"A lock of your h-hair."

"What."

"A… A lock of your hair."

"Done."

"Wait, really?"

"Out of the way, cinderbreath, I'm going in the hot spring."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is something of a joke, as will become clearer at the end.


	2. Chapter 2

"Where are you from?"

"Svartbjorngard"

"I've heard of it."

"No you haven't. Hand me that rock."

"I have. They say there's a bear made of rainbows at the top of the mountain there."

"Hrmph. Where did you hear that?"

"The last travelers through here told me. They were on their way there to slay it."

"Foolish. Hand me that other rock."

"Here. What do you want it for?"

"Callouses on my feet. The first one wasn't coarse enough."

_A silence_

"You don't have to turn your head, you know."

"I..."

"Go ahead and stare. Everyone does."

"But..."

"This one was a Muspelli's axe, and that one was a troll-boar's tusk. The one here and on my back was a spear that went right through."

"Oh! Your scars. I... that is... they're impressive."

"Less chatter, more heat, fire-lizard. You don't know how cold it is back home."

"I thought frost giants liked the cold."

"No one likes the cold. We only suffer it better than others. The Living Glacier was the father of our race, and he beats his children less than he beats the rest of the world."

"That's terrible."

"It's only terrible if you're too stupid to leave. That's why I'm headed south."

"I've always wanted to see the southern lands. Travelers tell such stories, when they stop at the spring."

"So go."

"I couldn't."

"Then stay."

"You're not very helpful."

"No one ever accused the winter's children of being helpful. You don't ask the frozen lake for water, do you?"

"I can melt a lake."

"Hrmph. If you made every lake we stopped at a hot spring, you could come south with me."

"R-really?"

"Why not."

"Th-thank you!"

"What did you want my hair for, anyway?"

"N-nothing."

"Hrmph. Well, wait until the first night away from your lair before you thank me. We leave at first light."


	3. Chapter 3

"What are you doing."

"...Hoarding?"

"What."

"We killed them... I'm taking their finery."

"Orcs don't have finery."

"But we killed them. I have to take something."

"Broken spears and rat-eaten leathers?"

"I was hoping for gold rings, but it is what it is. How else am I supposed to build my hoard?"

"How were you planning on carrying this 'hoard'? We have a long way to go yet."

"Don't you have a net?"

"You're not having my net."

"But-"

"Leave them. We'll pick a fight with some guards in the next town, and then you can buy your own net."

"Guards get paid, right? Maybe they'll have gold coins."

"Guards get paid pittance. You might find a shiny breastplate or two, though."

"I'll take what I can get."

_A pause_

"...We just killed a bunch of orcs, right?"

"...Yes."

"So I'm an adventurer now."

"Sure, cinderbreath. You're an adventurer now."


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey, Utgrid."

"What?"

"Here."

"...What are these?"

"E-ear rings."

"Are these those guards' breastplates?"

"I... I got the blacksmith to pound them flat when we were in town. They aren't gold, but...well...they were the shiniest thing I had."

"I though these were for your hoard."

"I wanted you to have them."

"Get me a sword."

"...What?"

"Get me a sword. Or a spear. A spear would be better. A human sized one."

"I..."

"I'm putting these on, so I'm going to need to make holes in my ears."

"Father of Drakes, I thought... I heard you were supposed to give women ear rings, I-I didn't realize—"

"Get. Me. A spear."

"Y-yes, right away."

"Hrmph."

_Later_

"Wake up."

"Hsss-snrk...wha?"

"Wake up."

"Utgrid?"

"It's raining."

"It is? Oh, I'm steaming."

"There's ice forming on my skin. Give me a wing."

"What?"

"Give me a wing. Put your wing over me."

"Oh! R-really?"

"I don't want to be a block of ice in the morning."

"Right, fine. Yes. H-here—ah! You're freezing!"

"We can't help how we were born, cinderbreath. Not all of us have coals under our skin."

"Y-you can use my name, you know."

"Go to sleep, cinderbreath."

"...Right."

"...Thank you. For the ear rings."

"You're welcome, Utgrid."


	5. Chapter 5

"Utgrid, how far south are you planning to go?"

"Until I don't feel cold any longer."

"I heard once that there were islands in the southern ocean that only have two seasons, wet and dry."

"What kind of season is 'wet'? I'd be covered in ice an inch thick if I lived somewhere where 'wet' was a season."

"No, it's supposed to be like summer all year long. Even the rain is hot. They say the islands are actually volcanoes."

"So 'wet' actually means 'covered in lava', and 'dry' means 'everything is a hot black stone'."

"So you've seen a volcano?"

"Once, in the far north. It stood alone in a flat, black plain. But it was cold and dead."

"I was hatched in a volcano, to the east. It was still hot, but it snowed on the upper slopes when the crater wasn't smoking. Anyway, the islands are supposed to be warm all year long, even though the volcanoes are old and quiet."

"Maybe we'll see, then. I think I could swim in the ocean."

"We'd have to hire a boat. The islands are far from the shore."

"Is that so."

"T-that's what I hear, anyway."

"We'd better make some money, then, hadn't we."

"I hear there's supposed to be a mercenary company to the west. We might find work there."

"You hear all sorts of things, don't you."

"I-I like to listen. The world is a strange place, and its full of strange stories. I talk to travelers whenever I can."

"West it is, then."

"Do... do you think it might rain tonight?"

"Hrmph. I think it might, cinderbreath. I think it might."


	6. Chapter 6

"So this is a boat."

"I hope they have enough room in the hold for my hoard."

"It'll be fine."

"You'll be careful?'

 _"I'll_ be fine."

"You're sure?"

"It's a short trip."

"But I won't be on it."

"There's no room on the boat. Now fly ahead already. If you aren't there to meet me I'll throw all your loot overboard."

"You're sure you'll be alright?"

"It probably only comes up to my chin anyway. I could walk there, if we didn't have so much baggage."

"I think it's deeper than that."

"Get going, or you'll find out first hand."

"Alright. I'll see you in a week."

"Go already."

"Utgrid?"

"Yes?"

"...Nothing."

"Good luck, cinderbreath. I'll see you in a week."

"See you."

"Hey, cinderbreath! HEY, PARTINAX!"

"...WHAT?"

"I'll MISS YOU!"

".....WHAT?"

"...I'll miss you."

 _"Ehem_... We're ready to sail, ma'am."

"Let's get going, then. Living Glacier knows what he'll do without me."


	7. Chapter 7

"Welcome to Hanu Island!"

"How long have you been here?"

"Four days."

"The flight?"

"It was fine. I stopped at a tiny little islet to sleep halfway through. How was the boat?"

"Cramped. Briny. Help me unload."

"Let the sailors do it. I want to show you something."

"What?"

"You'll see."

"I'm not going into another troll-cave just because you heard they had a golden idol."

"Was I wrong?"

"There were trolls. It doesn't matter if you were wrong or not."

"Hush."

"Hrmph. Where are we going?"

"Just a bit farther... Here."

"This is a cave."

"Yes."

"If this cave is full of trolls you will be having words with my axe."

"It isn't full of trolls. It's empty."

"It's...warm. Why is it warm?"

"There's a hot spring at the back—a real one, the kind that stays hot on its own. It stinks a little, but we've smelled worse."

" _You_ smell worse."

"It's sulfur."

"If you say so."

"The water is warmed by the volcano. And here, this side chamber—I'm going to keep my hoard here."

"Finally going to sleep on it, hmm?"

"N-no. W-well, I hope not."

"Oh?"

"There's another chamber, over here. I-I've been cleaning it out, and I put down some furs, and—"

"Where did you get furs?"

"I traded for them. Ships come here all the time. A-anyway, I thought I might use this chamber."

"I see."

"A-and I thought... you... might like..."

"Yes?"

"Tostayheretoo."

"Oh."

"Father of Drakes, I'm sorry, I-I'll just go a-and, um, unload... and—"

"Come here."

"—and you can have the cave, I'll find another place and—"

"Come here."

"And... What? I... Oh!"

"This cave is warm. This island is warm. _I'm_ warm. I've never been warm."

"W-well..."

"Hold your nose, cinderbreath, we're going in the hot spring."

"I'm not sure that's..."

"We will make this work."

_Later_

"Utgrid?"

"Yes?"

"That was..."

"Yes?"

"That was... damp."

"Yes."

"You're still damp."

"Yes, Partinax, I'm still damp."

"You should be pretty frosty by now, shouldn't you?"

"Usually."

"But you aren't. I'm happy for you."

"I'm happy too, Partinax. I'm happy too."


	8. Chapter 8

"Mama, did I come out of an egg?"

"No, darling child, you did not come out of an egg."

"Papa came out of an egg."

"Yes, child."

"Where did I come from?"

"You grew on a tree."

 _A giggle._ "No!"

"You're right. You came from the same place all giants come from."

"What about Papa?"

"That's a different story, a story for creatures with scales, and fire in their bellies."

"That's me, Mama."

"Yes, little one, and your father too. But not me. The only story I can tell is a frost giant story. Do you want to hear where frost giants come from? It's a story for you and me, with ice in our hair."

"What's ice, Mama?"

"I'll show you later. Do you want to hear the story or not?"

"Yes!"

"Then listen closely, little one. A long time ago, when the world was new, there were the Ancients: your father will tell you about the Father of Drakes, who was one of them. But the one I'll tell you about is the Living Glacier, who one day decided he needed a wife. So he went searching, high and low, and found all sorts of strange things..."

And she told her daughter about The Living Glacier, and the Snow Princess, and Tower of Tusks, and all the fairy tales she could remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Template Stacking, of course, is when you stack as many templates as possible on your rpg character, usually for stupid reasons—templates like Half-Dragon or Half-Giant, for instance.


End file.
